

=============== ADVISORY ===============

Certain portions of this game may contain flashing lights.

=============== DEFAULT CONTROLS ===============

Main Menu:
Z - Confirm
Arrowkeys - Move Cursor

Game:
Z - Jump
X - Shoot
C - Missile Select
M - Pause Menu/Map
Arrowkeys - Move Samus


=============== GAME EXPLANATIONS ===============

> Hard Difficulty
      Enemies deal 3x damage.

> Randomized Mode
      Items are shuffled between locations.

> Randomized+ Mode
      Items are shuffled between locations, but some Missile Tanks are replaced with additional new items as seen in Enigma.

> Strike Mode
      Begin the game with all the items, 99 Energy, and 0 Ammo. Enemies no longer drop refills, but Item locations are replaced with a one time refill of 40 Energy and 10 Missiles. Auto saving is replaced with dedicated save points.

=============== PLANET DETAILS ===============

ZEBETH: 
 - The original NES Metroid, with some quality of life improvements. 
 - Beams do not stack, but can be freely swapped on the pause menu.

NOVUS:		CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE - available on v1.27
 - A world loosely based off the original, but with expanded areas, new enemies, and some new bosses.
 - More collectable items than the original.
 - Beams stack.

ENIGMA:
- Currently only a Beta Demo is available.
- A randomized world, built from player designed rooms!
- Features a Room Studio that allows you to design rooms, export and share them, and import rooms from others! ( see below )
- Allows for downwards aiming.


=============== EXPERIMENTAL ITEMS: CORES ===============

A set of 10 unique items, available only in Randomized+ Mode of Zebeth and in Enigma.
 > Each Core grants a unique effect.
 > You must manually equip Cores via the equipment screen to gain their effects. Only 1 can be equipped at a time.
 > Equipping a Core locks it into play for 5 in-game minutes. Afterwards, you can switch it out if desired.
 > Collecting a new Core automatically clears the cooldown for instant switching if desired.


=============== CONNECT FEATURE ===============	CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE - available on v1.27

This feature allows players to connect for multiplayer games.

To Host a Server, you must setup portforwarding on your router for port [ 6510 ].
A simple search online for "how to port forward" will list several helpful instructions.

To join a Server, simply enter the Server Code of the Server you are trying to connect to, and join.

There are 5 options when playing a Connect Game:
+Share Map+Doors
      Players will have their map exploration shared. They also share any Map Markers they have placed. Missile Doors will be opened for all players.
+Share HP+Ammo
      Damage and Missile usage are synced between players, as well as refill pickups.
+Share Items
      Players will automatically collect Items that other players collect.
+Share Bosses
      Bosses defeated for one player are defeated for all other players. Boss HP is also synced between players, so they can co-op bosses. Boss HP is scaled according to the number of players in the game. Also applies to Zebetites.
+Versus Mode
      Versus Mode is not compatible with any of the above options. When you destroy enemies, their total health will be split as damage to all other players, reducing Energy to a minimum of 30. Randomly appearing "Golden" enemies ignore this buffer, and will net an extra bonus of disabling a Suit Upgrade temporarily for all other players.

These options can only be changed if you are Hosting the server, or if the Host's name is "Server Host".
If you'd like to host a server on a seperate machine, use this name to allow clients to edit settings.

It is also possible to play Randomized Mode with Connect games, but Strike Mode may have issues and is not recommended.


What if Connect isn't working?
+ Is there an issue with a firewall?
+ If hosting a server, did you setup portforwarding for port [ 6510 ]?
+ Does the game show the server was hosted successfully?
+ Is the Server Code put in correctly?
+ Do you have internet?
+ Do you have an IPv4 address? This is required for Connect.
+ Have you tried running the game as an Admin?
+ If an HTML5 player is trying to connect, their browser may be blocking the connection. Chrome is recommended, and after attempting a connection once, usually an option appears to allow connections through the browser.

If you have checked all of the above, and are still having issues, please send a bug report.


The Connect Feature still has some limitations, so here is list of best practices to help things work properly:
+Not recommended to host a Server if you have regular issues with internet connection.
+DO NOT play on separate Planets
+DO NOT play on separate Modes, if using Shared HP+Ammo ( synchonized HP+Ammo may have issues )
+DO NOT play on separate Difficulties, if using Shared HP+Ammo ( synchonized HP+Ammo may have issues )
+Spending time on the MAIN MENU (Title Screen) while other players are in a Planet increases the chances of desyncs.
+If you desire to start a new game after playing in a previous one, all players should go to the Main Menu to clear any Shared Data, or use the "Clear Shared Data" option under Host Server, to avoid residual data being carried over into the new game.
+If there is a temporary disconnection, players should stay put or pause until everyone is reconnected.


For Best Results, use the following method for playing:
+Connect all players
+Set Options as desired
+Go to the desired Planet, and choose new game, or load a previous save all players have that is the same.
+Play through the game until finished, or have all players quit together.


=============== ROOM STUDIO ===============

The Room Studio is a feature of the currently in progress Planet Enigma. Enigma is randomly generated from player designed rooms. The Room Studio allows you to design your own rooms to use in Enigma.

You can also Export and share your rooms with others, as well as Import rooms that others have designed. Visit the official Discord to see what other players have made!

The Room Studio has a vast array of features, far beyond the scope of this simple Readme. For more details, try creating a new room, and opening the Help Guide located in the menu on the left side, once inside the Room Studio.

As a reminder: Use the built in options in-game for Importing and Exporting room files, rather than extracting them from the game folder itself. This will ensure all data is handled properly, and avoid potential issues.

When Exporting any sort of file from the game, you must export to a location outside of the game folder, or the file will not be saved. The Desktop is usually a safe location.


=============== UPDATE FEATURE ===============

The game will automatically detect any new MAJOR updates. If there is one available, an option on the main menu will point you towards the download link. Deleting your old version should not affect any saves, records, or options, as these are stored in a local directory elsewhere. (See below)



=============== FILE DIRECTORY ===============

The program stores saves, rooms, worlds, and other data in a windows directory, separate from where the executable is stored. This has the advantage of allowing you to delete the older game versions without worrying about losing your data, whenever you update the game.
If you need to access the directory for some reason, open a window and go to [ %localappdata%\Metroid ].
It is strongly recommended you do not use this method to add room or world files, and instead use the functions inside the actual game to do so, since that will allow the game to perform additional checks for duplicates, updates, ect.

When exporting files from the game, it will not work if you export to the folder of the game exe or a sub folder.



